MAMMUT

This band can really have an fuzzy essential story, since its firm and intricately achieved music, based on either original, strange, cramped or subversive ideas, was good enough to score a private record contract (one also disputed afterwards, in such a heavy way, that it ultimately brought bad fortune to the album) and has come to be considered a tonic example in the Heavy Rock cultural, underground or tendentious industry (and even in the wild acid spot of krautrock, since it's of a German pure brew), yet lasted only one year and one album, heading afterwards into a pragmatic state of rarity and crossover reception. But that's really the entire scheme of things: great dash of music, bad managerial luck, tightly eclectic musical passion and, finally, a shortly lived moment of rock and smoke-coughing art.

"Mammut" is not a totally wonderful music moment, nor an unbelievable rich progressive expression, still it is a pretty great, interesting, bit absurdly jambed and powerfully droned album. Curiously complex (since it isn't a supreme artistic effort and dazzle, instead it focuses on all kinds of particular and different values and emotional levels), it strikes you, in the end, as a heavy rock creamy dynamic, having alternative shifts on an old-charm psychedelic ambition or rather on a good soft/raw contrast. The album is positively evolved on pure instrumentality (the Schnur brothers adding a double wet and sweat standard to the lead guitar and vocal roles), but the conceptual support can be actually the best thing "Mammut" reflects and benefits from, since each of the eight pieces are a special movement (being even constantly titled with the "Mammut" keyword), therefore they're played, following a genuine force, distinctively. This concept, upon listening, is mostly accomplished.

Bird Mammut has a silly opening, with samples of birds, followed by an intense symphonic-like drone, plus a bit of colored rock melody, inspired almost from a Jethro riff, plus a rustic flute dance; a piece that's wild, not highly progressive, anyway in the spirit of easy rock and heavy instruments. The piece finally squeezes something from the first sample, in a chaos of music colors. Classic Mammut, as a windy piano intermezzo, is not worthy.

Mammut Ecstasy is the first piece of real interest in the album, given a psyched-up rock bassy beat on some high drenches of guitar, plus on vocals that sound dizzy and colorful; interesting organ jam, in the middle of the storm; this piece is incontrollable, when escaping it's "bassy beat", therefore it isn't consistent; as style, this could be between a heavier mood for rock and a drunk attitude of rage riff; "ecstasy" is the keyword. Foolmachine Mammut sounds like the most hard-dreamy piece so far, resembling The Doors in beat (and, yes, in something from the eery, leisure vocals); rock of a psychedelic kind, and psychedelic of a rock simplicity, nothing clearly; there are moments when the organ symph drone is pedaling again, but the voltage is mostly in the rock rhythms, in the guitar's lush and in the samples of strange glass tones; all in all, it sounds like an old rock music, with a bit of creamy haze

Short Mammut blights a vocal hard explosive piece, sounding like an acoustic hard psych song, with nothing worthy but the vocals, that always sing within in a mist outline, plus some guitar strips, which are done passively. Consider Schizoid Mammut the hint is well preserved, the piece standing as one of the most unbalanced and unpretty pieces in the album; the vocals don't know which direction to take: the weird one or the growly one; there is a heavy sample of "mousy voice effects" between a good vibe of psych rock, organ slush and guitar heavy roundels. Nahgern Mammut is a strange piece, starts with different sorts of rock noises, than adapts another heavy and hot song; it's only not grouchy and not psychotic, it's actually called "lyrical"; there's an ambitious instrumentality, upon an nervous kind of heap hard rock/art rock, from all I can figure out

Mammut Opera is finally a totally different piece than all others from this high-driving album. Complex and vibrant, full of dynamics and different sense, making the psychedelic fever disappear, but keeping, at least, a bluesy ling (if not pure rock or concept rock as well); some flute works and easy paces are back (after they were last heard in the first piece!), creating a good and complex kind of music expression; only some guitar heavy values or some unsteady rhythms reminds that Mammut are an impetuous band.

A rare heavy rock and progressive art album. Largely three point five stars, could be more for certain fans.

This is the first and unique album by the almost legendary German band Mammut. An intense and bombastic hybrid between heavy fuzz acid guitars, instinctive free rock improvs and some lyrical, classical influenced interludes / fragments. We can also detect a certain dose of humour in the vocals, lyrics & in the introduction parts. The opening track is a groovy, percussive, crazy psychedelic "trip" featuring an avalanche of drums, trippy organs, bluesy e-guitar sections, drunked flute passages, silly absurd voices. Average stoned semi improvised free jam. Classical delivers a short piano interlude, a pleasant melodic moment. Ecstasy is a fuzzy heavy psychedelic composition with furious rythms, an efficient bass guitar leading theme and some nice technical keyboards moves. Foolmachine alternates a simplistic bluesy pop song with free guitar jams accompanied by the Hammond organ. An optimistic, dynamic progressive rock album, a really soft version of krautrock but the band captures with interest various musical influences together.

This was the only album MAMMUT released back in 1971. It was really the coming together of two bands who were part of the Jazz scene in Southwestern Germany. Klaus Schnur from THE ROPE SECT along with his brother Peter both play guitar and sing. And we get the keyboardist and bass player from THOSE. The bass player also adds flute and vocals plus we get a drummer making this a five piece. They were active for less than a month apparently basically recording this album then going their own ways. They did release a single though and the band kept going in name with many musicians coming and going as they played live. The song titles make me laugh, they're like in the third person with the band's name in every one.

Clearly a talented band but this one failed to do much for me. I like that they use samples from nature and so on in their music. Samples of a party, of someone walking then running and other cool additions too. Vocals are in German and are from being okay to not so good. The latter may be on purpose though for example on "Shizoyd Mammut" or "Mammut Opera". The latter is the epic at 13 1/2 minutes. There's this strange section on "Nahgern Mammut" from 1:12 to 1:30 that reminds me so much of TWELFTH NIGHT it's uncanny. Of course these guys were on the scene way before that British band. I don't know but I give this band credit for what they created here and the effort to add some interesting samples and so on. It's still a 3 star album in my book but well worth checking out as this has been re-issued many times.